


sword and shield

by DameMond



Category: Bravely Default (Video Game) & Related Fandoms
Genre: F/M, Rindea focus with background Tiznes, Spoilers
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-04-05
Updated: 2018-04-05
Packaged: 2019-04-18 14:49:39
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,759
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14215506
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/DameMond/pseuds/DameMond
Summary: "Can I truly be something else than her knight in shining armor?"





	sword and shield

**Author's Note:**

> I wrote this back in 2015 for a Secret Santa. Thought it would be nice to share it, so here you go!

As children she’d picked up the wooden sword. He’d picked up another.

Now he remembers – remembers how it was always supposed to be: he could not be her sword, he could not be her knight in black shining armor as his cadet-self dreamed to be.

He'd seen her training. He'd seen her picking up a sword and kicking whoever dared to stand in her way while still being graceful to his eyes (and when wasn’t she like that for him?), he'd seen her _lead_ and being led by her heart and by what she thought was right, he'd seen her like that since he was young…

Yet, as he grew up as Alternis, there was a part of him that still wanted to  _be_  her sword, to protect a fair lady that acted both like a sister and a friend, a girl who was part of a family he’d always desired.

He had thought he could protect her, he’d thought he could be the sword that slayed the monsters in her way, he’d thought she was an angel not worthy of getting her hands stained with blood.

He’d thought…

Boy, had he been wrong.

Ringabel remembers now and compares the Edea he’d grown up with (and a pang of guilt stings his heart) to the one sparring on Grandship’s deck, kicking a poor shepherd’s ass: exactly the same. Brash, follows her heart, impulsive but kind and right to her ideals.

But something’s different and it isn’t her. It’s him: the way he sees her.

Ringabel can’t lie: he loves Edea… as a friend, as a woman, as a warrior, as many things he himself isn’t sure about it anymore. He doesn’t deserve reciprocation but his feelings are still there and he finds himself pondering on them more than he’d ever done since he’d “met” her back in Caldisla. He’d expected someone a bit different according to the book, but now he understands: it was the way Alternis saw that Edea sparring on Eternian grounds, the way he himself had seen his own Edea back in the day. An angel, a fiery angel.

Ringabel had noticed she was more than that and that she needed no sword. That realization, that had come before he could remember everything, had struck deep within him (his inner Alternis, he’d assumed later on) and he struggled to understand her a little more. How could he fit in her life? What was his purpose, if not as her sword? Maybe he didn’t fit, maybe he  _shouldn’t_ even try to fit, but he still wanted to stay by her side and a part of him still looked for a place to be.

Now he sees it and sighs twice, one for the poor Alternis that had fallen down the deck and one for himself. She did not need that knight he’d dreamed to be back in the day, she did not need a sword because  _she was her own sword_ , she did not need (or even want) the knight he’d wanted to be for her.

So Ringabel stares and wonders, what does his Angel need?

What are they all for her? Where does he fit?

Tiz is like her older brother of sorts, despite Edea knowing more of the outside world that he does. He’s the cheering voice, the hand on her shoulder, the one that warms her heart (and belly, for he is the best cook in the group). He has taken over Alternis’ “old brother” role, and Ringabel can’t help but snort at the thought as he watches Tiz get up again, ready for another of Edea’s spar sessions.

Agnès is the voice of reason for the whole group, the soothing voice, the calming and innocent presence despite being the second oldest among them. Agnès has grown to be Edea’s best friend during their journey, and the more he remembers, the more he’s glad she did, for Agnès can guide all of them through the right path when they’re lost.

And then, there’s him: Ringabel, met as the flirty amnesiac. The shameless one that threw himself headfirst into a world he remembered nothing about and the oldest of the group. Protective of his friends… but he’s not their sword, he’s not  _Edea’s_  sword.

What is he? Who is he?

Despite finding out who he is, Ringabel feels even more lost.

He groans before getting up and going back to the Pilot Cabin. Three more crystals to go… again.

* * *

They’re all drinking, eating and laughing, telling each other past stories they remember perfectly from months ago, drowning their worries in food and laughter. Ringabel feels the same, so he joins them for this night. It’s not healthy to be locked up in that cabin all day, after all. There goes Tiz, blushing madly at his remark of how they both come back red every time they go meet Sage Yulyana. Ringabel enjoys teasing the poor man, though better not to admit that out loud. Agnès, too, tries to hide her face behind her bowl of food at the memory of that time Tiz had declared firmly how she was his hope.

Ringabel takes the opportunity and does his best to shoot one of his old smirks at Edea, who catches him immediately and raises an eyebrow (though he can see the side of her lips fighting to keep down a smile).

“And me, my angel? What am I to you? Do I match Tiz’s passion?”

She goes silent, staring at her cup and Ringabel can’t help but wonder if she’s seen straight through his lying-joke question. The old Ringabel would have expected a “lovely” reply and would’ve mockingly acted a hurt heart with a dramatic pose when rejected.

But now he isn’t even sure what to expect or how to react.

“Hm…” She’s too serious. “Well, first of all, you’re a dork.”

… Well, not bad?

“But I suppose you are like my shield.”

Now he’s staring at her as though he’s seen a ghost. “A shield…?”

“Yeah, a dork shield,” and she giggles. “You’ve always been protecting my back, though you do mess up a lot.”

“Gee, thanks.”

“BUT,” she interrupts him, “you want to fight with me, not take up my place in the battlefield, and a good complement for a sword is a sturdy shield. You’re pretty insistent, so you’ve got the sturdy part covered!”

Edea jumps in her seat as Agnès begins laughing, but Ringabel is staring at his own glass, barely hearing them.

A shield.

He wants to know more.

* * *

The world is dark. Thunder resonates around them as “Tiz”, or… whatever that was that took Tiz’s form goes through the spiraling portal in front of them, the same one Airy has been sucked to never to be seen again. They’re about to go as well, hearts pounding, hands sweating and bodies trembling. What are they but four kids who want to live?

Ringabel sees Edea holding on to her trusty katana and makes up his mind before they move.

“Let… let us rest for two minutes before going. Can’t fight while tired, eh?”

None says no.

He sits right next to Edea on the floor, staring at the swirling purple fog above them.

“What do you want, Ringabel?” Straight to the point, though he notices her voice is a bit more high-pitched that its usual tone. He can’t blame her, his knees feel as if they’re made of jelly.

“… Sorry if it’s a bad moment, but I need to know… What did you mean by me being your shield?”

Edea blinks and opens her mouth to speak as if ready to yell at him that it isn’t the right moment to ask such things (and she might be right) but she changes her expression at her last second and she goes back to stare to Kamiizumi’s katana once again.

“Alternis and I always fought for the wooden swords to the point my father began buying them in pairs when they broke so we wouldn’t fight. At first it was fun when we both had swords and fought each other, but…”

Ringabel swallows.

“When we began training outside before he left he tried to fight monsters for me. I got so mad I fought him instead.”  _Ouch,_ now he  _did_  remember that. “I never understood… Well, I did. Wait, no, I misunderstood. I just… argh.”

“Take your time, Edea.”

“No, it’s just… I appreciate that he wanted to protect me, I really do! He wanted to protect our whole family, I… can’t be mad at him for that, but I never wanted him to fight for me in the battlefield. I don’t want you to fight  _for_  me.”

“I want to protect you, Edea.”

He can’t help the small smile as he hears her groan about his stubbornness, making him feel as if they aren’t about to cross the doors into the End of the Universe itself.

“Then be my shield, Ringabel. Don’t take my place for me… Just fight with me, help me.”

“… A shield is a good complement to a sword, is it not?”

She snorts at the memory and he pulls her close for a hug with an arm around her shoulders.

“Yes, it is. It also won’t kill my monsters unless I throw him straight to their faces.”

“Please do not catapult me into a horde, my angel. It would be hard to keep me shiny and in once piece.”

He feels a fist punching his chest lightly and her shoulders shake in laughter at his bad joke.

“You’re terrible, Ringabel.” Edea laughs despite her comment, but freezes when Ringabel places a small peck on her cheek before jumping off the floor.

“I know, but I will try to be your best, sturdiest shield.”

“… You better.”

She’s red, he can tell, and she also seems to want to punch his face, but he makes no comment on it. Tiz and Agnès are ready, hands tight on their weapons and steps firm on the ground. When Tiz speaks, his voice doesn’t tremble, but Ringabel still places a hand on his shoulder.

“I think it’s time…”

“Ready?” Agnès asks, and they all nod.

“Always ready, my angel…” Ringabel mumbles to Edea, and she shakes her head, but steps a bit closer to him.

He smiles and thinks the nickname will remain no matter what, that and the fact that she will still be his Angel, just not a literal one as he’s always pictured her.

Her smile still surpasses every angel’s, though, and he’s set down on that one.


End file.
